THE CHOICES WE MAKE ; THE SIERRA LEONEAN FUTURE

Maybe it is time, time for us to take a deep look into our being. Time to forget for a little while about “the future”,  for what future do we have if we do not make better choices now?

Our failures are indeed a “heavy shame” to accept and face. But to move forward or to fix anything, we have to see that which is broken, correct that which is wrong; then forward we shall move.

Irrespective of what government we have, irrespective of who leads or who doesn’t, the problems remain the same; we (myself and every Sierra Leonean) have either consciously or unconsciously accepted “the society” we have created with no genuine intention to make it better.

We have accepted ”the society” that said to us, a woman is nothing more than a sexual object meant solely for child-bearing. A society that largely believes that men must bear the financial burden of the entire family (both immediate family members and in some cases the entire village).

A society that forces parents to build unfair competitions while using their children as pawns. A society that ensure that we remind young brothers and sisters of their failures (whether in school, career etc.), a society that has said to us, it is better to go with the flow than stand for anything.

We have waged wars on the people and institutions that fight for us, yet we expect them to work on our behalf. We say ”Salone Na alaki Kontri” more often than we say “God Bless our mama Salone”.

Equally so, leaders have become more defensive, refusing to listen to the point that every criticism sounds like a war-drum. Everyone is expecting an attack from everyone, resulting in a citizenry armed with suspicion.

Thankfully we are still here during the great reset of 2020. While I believe that we cannot have a better future without first making a decision that is backed by action. Today we can choose to be better if we want to.

This brings me to why I am writing to you today; the choices we make every single day has affected the way we perceive things. It has ultimately affected our society, hence the quest to save our future should start by making better choices now.

The dangers that we are faced with on a daily basis is simply as a result of our inability to understand how our choices affect others and how it in turn affects society.

Many of the choices we make today are as a result of our selfish desires, no matter who we are, we are not excluded from making selfish choices. But the difference is for the very few who desire change and want to put action to it, these decisions or choices though made from selfish desires are scrutinised under the perception of what it will mean for others.

And this is the issue we must confront more than everything, the shared value of choices/decisions taking with the understanding of how it will affect the people around us must be at the front of every decision/choices we make.

From this, it becomes easier for us to spend more time cultivating love, more time acknowledging our mistakes and correcting them, more time in thinking about others than ourselves but more importantly more time in putting country first (at least for the sake of this article).

Doing this will not come easy, as much as I am writing to inspire you to take charge of the choices you make, with the intent to be a better friend, neighbour, lover or countrywoman or countryman etc. I do understand that it is most times easier said than done.

The “fact” is, there is far more incentive to be selfish, to be corrupt in our ways, to be close-minded etc. than there is to be the opposite as far as the society we have collectively created goes. I am certain that the probability that our society will bash a political leader after their term for not living large and affluent will be higher than the bashing of a corrupt politician living affluently in the face of sufferings after they leave public office.

Our society has popularised the culture of selfishness and self-gratification over anything else. As stated earlier we have become a citizenry that seems to be armed with suspicion, so much that we are unable to breathe freely without thinking that someone is out to get us.

Unfortunately, this has made the work of others genuinely fighting to make a change ten times harder than it should be, and as a result more susceptible to failure than never before. And as much as it is easy to say our problem lies with political authorities, we must also acknowledge that it is by the choices we make during elections that they came to be. If this is true?  Which I know you know it is, then it is easy to say the future of our country lies solely on our everyday choices.

So rather than fight we must love, rather than condemn at every turn we must try to understand and make better suggestions. Rather than see each other’s as enemies we must see ourselves as a family just with different perspectives. Rather than fight for corruption let us fight corruption. Rather than blame others let us take responsibility and work together. Rather than burn bridges we must mend them, rather than judge we must embrace. This we must do with the awareness that every decision/choice made today is a collective representation of the future of Sierra Leone.

Why not start today with the simple choice of listening to understand rather than to respond?